Chapter 62 : Echoes of Poison and Disappearance
❖ Chapter 62 ❖
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[He is crazy. He must be crazy. Otherwise….]
[He is hunting me.]
[Even though I witnessed the murder, he has been quiet for several days. Maybe he’s trying to bleed me to death.]
[He approaches me in a friendly way. Scary.]
[If I told someone that that man was a murderer, they would think I was crazy. Or put them in jail.]
[I haven’t been feeling well lately. I often feel nauseous.]
[It seems like he is trying some kind of trick against me. It is clearly a ploy to kill me.]
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The handwriting, which was straight at first, became strangely curved as time went by.
I tried to calm my trembling hands.
Who the hell is he?
It became clear from the writings in the notebook. His father did not die of illness, but was murdered by Lee.
The newly learned truth scratched my heart to a miserable degree. It was so absurd and frustrating that I couldn’t even cry, but I had to finish reading the notebook.
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[The dizziness is getting worse. The same goes for vomiting symptoms. Am I dying?]
[A thick stripe has appeared on the thumb nail.]
[What should I do about Edith? I will be left alone.]
[How much will the insurance money be?] ….
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Any parts that seemed to contain the man’s name had been erased with a pen.
You already had a premonition that you would die, so you erased it.
I was afraid that the man might see these notes. And I’m afraid he’ll approach me to find out if I know about his murderous ways.
I opened the last page, unable to control my hands that were shaking uncontrollably.
[My body is getting worse. I have to go back to Edith….]
That was really the last time. There was nothing from the next chapter onwards.
My father only worried about me until the end when he passed away. He could not tell anyone that he was being murdered by someone.
I closed my eyes tightly.
My father was poisoned by someone.
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I stayed up all night because of the confusing truths that came at me all at once.
My father was killed on board the ship. And that too very slowly, under someone’s poison.
How painful it must have been for you not to be able to tell anyone…. How unfair she must have been.
Tears continued to flow. My hands that were gripping the bed sheets kept getting stronger.
The culprit must have survived and escaped the ship without having to pay any penalty.
Maybe he had the audacity to attend his father’s funeral. The thought sent a shiver down her spine.
I opened my father’s notebook several times. No matter how many times I read it, one passage kept catching my attention.
[If I told someone that that man was a murderer, they would think I was crazy. Or put them in jail.]
You’ll think I’m crazy…?
The person who murdered my father was clearly one of the Baltic sailors.
And it was clear that he was a high-ranking person. Or, because he is a person with a good reputation, no one will believe him even if he says he committed murder.
‘Who on earth is it…?’
If a person is of high rank, the pool of candidates decreases.
Even if you have a noticeably good reputation, the pool of candidates is likewise reduced.
‘Then who was the victim before my father?’
I chewed my lips.
My father said he witnessed the man ‘killing’ someone.
If so, the first victim would not have been poisoned but would have suffered direct injury.
Maybe he wasn’t the first victim.
‘But there must have been a body. Since it was a limited space, there was no way there were witnesses.’
I immediately shook my head.
There was also a possibility that a high-ranking navy would have ignored everyone and thrown the body into the sea.
Even if all conditions are met, the ship usually ends up floating in the middle of the ocean. It is also known that the Baltic mostly fought in the Red Sea.
So, even if there was a body of the Docilian Navy floating in the sea, it wouldn’t be a problem. Even if a corpse surfaces, they will think that it died in battle.
“Ha….”
And the man must have threatened my father. Otherwise, there is no way my father would have been so scared.
‘Then, when I let my guard down, I got poisoned….’
I closed my eyes tightly.
You suffered helplessly.
If he was a high-ranking naval officer, he would not have shared the same cabin as his father, and would have instigated someone to share the same cabin as his father.
Or maybe there was poison on the plate. This is under the premise that the meal attendant is the same person every day.
Are there any other witnesses? So it will be quiet like this.
‘Should I ask Johannes first…?’
He is the commander of the Baltic Fleet, so he knows all the high-ranking people. Even those with good reputations.
Right now, I was glad that Johannes wasn’t around. If Johannes had been around, he would have definitely noticed my emotions fluctuating.
Or….
I quickly shook my head. And, ignoring the anxious and nonsensical thoughts that came to mind, I got up from the bed.
I was tired because I couldn’t sleep at all, but I thought it would be better to get buried in the rush of work.
Because it would be good to empty your thoughts.
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When I headed straight to the office, Sir Pret was waiting for me with a serious look on his face. He said in a heavy voice,
“There is no ruler sorting work today. I think you should read the newspaper first rather than work.”
“What happened again?”
I took the newspaper he handed me. And then I found big letters on the headline. My eyes distorted in an instant.
“Where have the women of Mussen gone?”
My breath hitched in my throat. The question blazed across the paper like a dreadful omen. I looked up, startled.
“What is this…?”
Sir Pret’s expression was grave. “Let’s read it. I think you should know. The master probably won’t come back today….”
I slowly read the article beneath the headline. With every word, the shadows across my face deepened.
“Ha…”
They say misfortune never comes alone. Whoever said it must’ve known how merciless fate can be. One disaster follows another—like dominoes collapsing beneath a cruel wind.
“His whereabouts are unknown.”
At first, the police thought it was just a few isolated disappearances—runaways, perhaps. But the number kept rising.
Five women had already vanished.
And now, the case had erupted into something much darker.
All of them linked by a strange pattern…
The timing was chilling.
March.
Right after my wedding to Johannes.
It had only been a month—and yet five lives had vanished into smoke.
How? How could they have been taken so silently, so cleanly?
‘How do you kidnap women under everyone’s noses… and leave no trace?’
The women all had something in common. Not just any women—
They were professionals. Educated. Working in fields once dominated by men. Not servants. Not factory girls. But women who had carved names for themselves.
“How come no one knew about it all this time?” I whispered.
“They say not a single bit of evidence was found. And since they all work in demanding fields, it was assumed they were buried in their duties. Their disappearances weren’t noticed right away.”
Was someone targeting them specifically? Picking them out… one by one?
“The culprit is different from the previous murder cases, right? A fountain, a basement….”
The articles suggested other methods, but I knew. Deep down, I knew.
It was poison.
Sir Pret seemed to believe it, too.
“It seems so. In fact, the events that had occurred so far seemed rudimentary. Of course, he seemed to be very skilled at escaping.”
His voice was flat, but I saw the tension in his eyes.
He is a very vicious man.
“And there was no ransom demand?” I asked carefully.
“None. Not a single request or reason.”
“Then he kidnaps for what… sport?”
My voice trembled at the absurdity of it.
“It means…” I continued slowly, the weight of the realization sinking like lead, “that not one person has returned…?”
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